Embrace Spoonfulness: a week-long mindfulness challenge with Onken

I’m pleased to announce that all this week I’m working with yogurt brand Onken on a really positive, fun campaign that’s all about “embracing spoonfulness” – think mindfulness with some healthy, delicious yoghurt in the mix!

What’s mindfulness?

Mindfulness, in a nutshell, is all about achieving a mental state of calmness and happiness. What I love about the mindful approach is that far from focussing on big goals or the successes you feel you would need to crack in order to feel true happiness, mindfulness is instead about slowing down and focusing on one, simple thing at a time, living in the moment, and appreciating it for what it is.

Savouring the moment might be as simple as experiencing calm, focussed breathing or it might help you change the way you approach your working day, or indeed your whole life.

Why me?

Being busy/multitasking/always on is my default mode. I’m passionate about a lot of things, and I enjoy working hard, so I rarely take breaks and enjoy the thrill of being productive. But that’s not always great for my overall health, and while I might not often feel stressed in the stock photography, woman pulling her hair out sense, I guess I’m always on high gear, and long-term, I’m conscious that’s not a good way to be.

I’ve been aware of mindfulness for some time, but ironically haven’t found the time to commit to understanding it better, so this Embrace Spoonfulness challenge will be the motivation I need. I feel really positive about it! :)

Why Onken?

You might be wondering what’s the link between me, mindfulness and yoghurt?!

Well as someone who’s passionate about food, being mindful while eating is actually a key concept. Onken recognises this and wants to help more people calm their minds and awaken their tastebuds. Sounds relaxing, fun AND tasty, right?

It’s something that I’ll be exploring more as the week goes on. All this week, I’ll be taking the Spoonfulness challenge and sharing a video a day, each trialling a different aspect of this approach.

Today’s task: the power of routine

Today, I’m looking at how I how I can begin to take the first steps to actively integrating mindfulness into my life.

I’ve learned that it can be helpful to pick a regular time – the morning journey to work or a walk at lunchtime, for example – during which you decide to be aware of the sensations created by the world around you. By following this daily routine at specific points everyday, the intention is that over time a mindfulness will become your default, habitual mindset.

In the last few days, in preparation for this week’s challenges, I’ve been making an effort to take time for myself. 10 minutes to take a walk, stretch and eat lunch peacefully in the garden, while letting go of thoughts outside of the moment, and taking in everything happening around me

Here’s how I’m getting on:

And remember, I’m relatively new all this, so if you feel you have a slightly different understanding of mindfulness, or feel you have a better way of approaching a particular area, please do feel absolutely welcome to let me know in the comments – let’s learn from each other throughout this week.

Come back tomorrow, when I’ll be looking at how I’m embracing spoonfulness at work.

This post is sponsored by Onken. For more tips on how to live a more Spoonful life, tasty recipes and to view the full range visit www.onken.co.uk

I love the idea of this – I try to take my time when pegging the washing out and take a few minutes to walk around the garden. Just breathing in fresh air seems to invigorate me to start the next batch of work.

I really need to slow down sometimes, there’s just always so much to do that it can be hard! I’ll try to eat lunch more mindfully this week – always end up carrying on working while I’m eating which isn’t good!